Killer Joe

A rough Texas ride where no one has anything to lose. Once Matthew McConaughey starts delivering his lines in full force, this strange family drama kicks into high gear, and it's a shame that the blood, dirt, and slightly bizarre atmosphere become too much towards the very end. With clearer direction, Killer Joe, thanks to its perfect cast, could have aimed for a higher level. (03/04/2013)

The ace up William Friedkin’s sleeve is not the plot but the eccentricity of its characters and what it can lead to. That is, what they’re capable of and how they deal with situations gone wrong in their redneck shortsightedness. An excellent “chicken blowjob” scene. I didn’t hope for anything like this from Matthew McConaughey in the age of A Time to Kill and Amistad. This actor is rising to the stars! And it’s not just him, the entire cast is excellent here. A brutal movie with big balls and a not exactly sound mind. (24/11/2012)

Killer Joe is known to me from the theater stage. My wife was somewhat disgusted by the performance, which obviously tried to appeal to a younger audience and was far from the classic form of bourgeois theater. Partying, intercourse, violence... basically not something for delicate souls. However, I appreciated the black sarcastic humor and I would rate the theatrical play highly. Tracy Letts delved into the life of American white poverty, which we know best in the stylized performance of the sitcom My Name is Earl. But here, it is significantly more raw and devoid of softening humor. No textbook characters, not much intelligence, and considerably down-to-earth motivations. On the stage, the play functioned as a completely cynical comedy, whereas William Friedkin shifted it more toward the position of a classic crime thriller, and I slightly dislike this shift. Matthew McConaughey functions more as a violent maniac and sexual deviant rather than a pragmatic provider of special services who increasingly demands payment for the work done. As for the casting and acting, I have no objections, but I would appreciate it much more if the film stuck to my original vision of Killer Joe as a dark comedy about very flawed people. Overall impression: 65%. (08/11/2015)

Rednecks... Killer Joe has a very usual plot, but everything else about it is very unusual. McConaughey revels in his slimy villainy and he does great. The heated finale ranks among the best and also the most freaky that I’ve seen during past years. The cast is excellent and mainly William Friedkin shows the best in him. (19/10/2012)

Insanity, and total insanity at that. I absolutely wouldn't dare predict how the whole thing might turn out. It's not a consequence of the "subtlety" and "thoughtfulness" of the story, it's more a consequence of the fact that the behavior of the characters in this film is completely unpredictable, and what may appear to be an overly bizarre solution to the "problem" here (either in physical terms or some kind of reasoning) may be considered one of the alternatives – and even the most "acceptable" alternative. Friedkin bets on the bizarreness of the story right from the beginning – the opening dialogue in the rain lures you in such a way that afterwards you simply devour the whole film like a cherry (though it’s not impossible to vomit some of it up). The ensemble of actors is really great, but Matthew McConaughey towers slightly above the rest. (01/01/2013)